Possibly. Every year he heard how it was his year to step up and realize his full potential and how he hasn't hit his ceiling. I think Fil is a great forward and would love to keep him on this team but what he's reportedly asking for is insaaaaaane in every sense of the word.

He was considered day-to-day at the end of the Chicago series. Unless he does actually end up requiring surgery in the off season, I would doubt that he wouldn't be ready to go at the start of camp ergo eligible for compliance buy out.

No surgery needed for his sore booby. God i hope Kenny sends him packing

No surgery needed for his sore booby. God i hope Kenny sends him packing

That's cool that you say something like that when you have no idea what an NHL player goes through. You never saw what happened to him or felt whatever pain he felt. Never question an NHL player's toughness.

Good rule of thumb is always take an octopus everywhere. Better to have one and not need it than find yourself thinking, "Damn, I wish I had that octopus".

Rereading the comments from Kenny I think the Wings have already made their decision and both sides know it. Good luck Filps wherever you are going to end up. This is a very weak UFA class so I think he will get at least 5 per from a team desperate for offense (Predators, Blues, Jackets, Flames or Buffalo if they trade Vanek).

Hell no....wouldn't take him for half the money and 6 years...let him go....send Cleary with him

The guy is one of the best players on the team. Very underrated, drafted and developed in house. If he won't take 3.5-4 million, then gonna have to let him go. Letting Hudler go was a HUGE mistake, and it will be a HUGE mistake to let Flipulla go too. The Red Wings waste so much cap space on people who don't even play, they can afford to overpay a player by a million here or there.

The guy is one of the best players on the team. Very underrated, drafted and developed in house. If he won't take 3.5-4 million, then gonna have to let him go. Letting Hudler go was a HUGE mistake, and it will be a HUGE mistake to let Flipulla go too. The Red Wings waste so much cap space on people who don't even play, they can afford to overpay a player by a million here or there.

Sorry, are we talking about Filppula here? You know, the guy who has only averaged more than .5ppg once in his career, who is prone to brutal fits of inconsistency, who lacks any sort of physicality, who is invisible when he isn't scoring, and who, in general, has simply not panned out as the player he was expected to be? On no planet does Filppula's play merit a salary of $5m. And he is by absolutely no means one of the best players on the team.

Protip: to be underrated, one needs to exceed expectations first. Filppula has not done so.

The guy is one of the best players on the team. Very underrated, drafted and developed in house. If he won't take 3.5-4 million, then gonna have to let him go. Letting Hudler go was a HUGE mistake, and it will be a HUGE mistake to let Flipulla go too. The Red Wings waste so much cap space on people who don't even play, they can afford to overpay a player by a million here or there.

In a cap world, letting Hudler go was not a mistake, it was precisely the right thing to do. And in a cap world, letting Filpulla go is also absolutely the right thing to do. Flip is now an UFA, and UFAs are overpaid, because desperate GMs sign them to desperate contracts, driving up the price of UFAs everywhere. Over-paying for role/depth players is the cardinal sin of the cap world.

I like Flip, I've always liked him, and I've always defended him. He's been a good player for us, but now is the right time to let him go. He's going to get $4-5M a year from some GM, and with our pipeline of good, young, CHEAP, prospects we can afford to let him go.

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

Sorry, are we talking about Filppula here? You know, the guy who has only averaged more than .5ppg once in his career, who is prone to brutal fits of inconsistency, who lacks any sort of physicality, who is invisible when he isn't scoring, and who, in general, has simply not panned out as the player he was expected to be? On no planet does Filppula's play merit a salary of $5m. And he is by absolutely no means one of the best players on the team.

We have to be watching different games. Apart from Pav or Z, who is better than Flip on forward? Cleary got points this playoffs a lot from pucks bouncing off him and Franzen is a lazy POS who only scores goals when other players get him a spectacular scoring chance. Fil has tons more skill than Cleary and tons more work ethic than Franzen. He is an incredible puck possession player, usually wins battles along the boards with his finesse and is excellent (maybe best on the team) at skating the puck through the neutral zone and setting up in the offensive zone. Not to mention always back checking and being great on defense. You can't say anything of these things about Cleary or Franzen.

If you rate players but outcome versus expectation (which is what you;re doing), yeah, he's not going to be near the top. But if you rate players on what they actually do, he's the best forward on the team not named Zetterberg or Datsyuk.

It's just like Hossa's playoff run with us. The way people talked about it you would think he had 3 points in 30 games, when in reality he was still one of our top scorers, he just didn't play as well as we thought he would. That doesn't mean he sucks.

And just for the record, I don't think we should give him over $4m long term at least until he can prove that he is the 70 points Filppula, not the 40 point Filppula. I'm just saying he's a better overall player than both Franzen and Cleary.

We have to be watching different games. Apart from Pav or Z, who is better than Flip on forward? Cleary got points this playoffs a lot from pucks bouncing off him and Franzen is a lazy POS who only scores goals when other players get him a spectacular scoring chance. Fil has tons more skill than Cleary and tons more work ethic than Franzen. He is an incredible puck possession player, usually wins battles along the boards with his finesse and is excellent (maybe best on the team) at skating the puck through the neutral zone and setting up in the offensive zone. Not to mention always back checking and being great on defense. You can't say anything of these things about Cleary or Franzen.

If you rate players but outcome versus expectation (which is what you;re doing), yeah, he's not going to be near the top. But if you rate players on what they actually do, he's the best forward on the team not named Zetterberg or Datsyuk.

It's just like Hossa's playoff run with us. The way people talked about it you would think he had 3 points in 30 games, when in reality he was still one of our top scorers, he just didn't play as well as we thought he would. That doesn't mean he sucks.

Filppula is not worth $5m, plain and simple. I don't think he's even worth $4m. You say Filppula contributes a lot; I disagree. I think he is far from an impact player, and he's invisible when he isn't producing. He fit best as a third-line center, and he wants to be paid like a first-line center.

According to Babs in the post-Chicacgo presser he is/was our 4th best player. But does he worth 5,5 Million for over 7 years ? Of course not. Only question is if this is just some kind of tactic to get as much money out of Holland as possible or if he's testing the market. I'd like to see him sign 4 to 4,5 for two years here but looking at our roster I doubt that it will happen.

But unless Holland has plans to truly upgrade his top six (read: Horton, Clarkson) you have to think that Detroit with Filpulla is better than Detroit with Samuelson.

That's the only frustrating thing.

Sammy @ 3M

Tootoo @ 1.9M

Quincey @ 3.5M

These are all bad contracts $-wise. OK term-wise.

I guess what I'm saying is that I think 4M for Filpulla is fair (but pushing it a little). I also think 3M for Brunner is perhaps fair.

It kills me to think that both of these guys could walk over a 0.5 - 1.5M difference in asking vs offering when Kenny has overpaid for at least three players that the team doesn't really need (not that I have any huge issue with Tootoo, Sammy, or Quincey).

We would agree that $5.5 mil AAV is too much for Filppula, but in terms of Filppula's right to be a free agent or demand whatever he wants, I think you're off-base.

You're saying Filppula owes it to the Wings to accept whatever low-ball offer we throw his way? That a player in the prime of his career needs to "prove" himself by taking one-year deals until he either (a) Has an outlier season where he blows up and then gets overpaid; or (b) Gets his head run into the boards and sees a serious diminution in his value and future earning potential?

Um, no. If I'm Filppula and another team offers me $10 million more (over the life of a multi-year deal) AND a higher profile role on the top lines and PP unit...and all I have to do is live somewhere else and wear a different color sweater? Yeah, I would at least consider that. Filppula is no longer the "property" of the Detroit Red Wings come July 5th - there was nothing stopping his from extending him previously if Holland wanted to lock him up on a multi-year deal.

yup. Take what I said, and make it seem like I said something completely different. I said filppula should be taken a 1-2 year deal, because no team worth their jerseys are going to sign flip for 5.5/year for 7 years after one of his worst career years. The only teams that will aren't teams that are playoff bound anyway. Filppula has every right to go to free agency, but he should decide whether he wants to be on a cup contender or be the next federov

That's cool that you say something like that when you have no idea what an NHL player goes through. You never saw what happened to him or felt whatever pain he felt. Never question an NHL player's toughness.

He had a sore pectoral muscle twice last season. And nowhere did i question his toughness did i? I've played hockey my whole life and have had a lot of nasty injuries so i understand full well. But that doesn't mean you need to fly or the handle on me like you're some higher power of hockey injuries. Now i know why there's so few regulars around here these days.

Filppula is without a doubt, one of our best forwards. I agree with what Z and D for C and rick zombo said 100%. I don't think he is worth 5mil per year, but to say he isn't worth 4mil is completely under valuing him, which is what many people here seem to do with our players. Some people only look at the stats sheet, and to say he is invisible on the ice when he is not scoring is beyong ridiculous. He is one of the hardest working guys on the team, and he makes things happen, plain and simple. Like was said above, he can gain the zone on the power-play, he can set up plays, although everyone would love to see him score more or use his body more that isn't his game. I want to keep him, whether we do or not, who knows.